The U.S. Racquet Sports Market Looks Different When You See the Global Data

Three sports. One global snapshot. Here's what the data says about where the U.S. actually stands. Photo credit: Photo by Rodrigo Ortega via Pexels

Sporting Goods Intelligence Europe published their 2026 State of Play on racquet sports last week — tennis, padel, and pickleball. It’s one of the more thorough participation snapshots I’ve come across, drawing on data from the ITF, FIP, SFIA, Playtomic, PwC, and a range of national governing bodies. The full report and the online summary are available by clicking on the link at the bottom and registering for free.

Here's a summary of what the report covers across all three sports — and what I think the U.S. racquet sports market implications are for each.

TENNIS

Still the dominant sport — but read the numbers carefully.

Tennis is the largest racquet sport in the world by every measure. 106 million global players. 27.3 million in the U.S. — a 54 percent increase since 2019, with the USTA targeting 35 million by 2035. The 2024 Grand Slams drew a combined viewership of nearly 2 billion people across more than 200 countries. The US Open was the most-watched tennis telecast of 2025 on ESPN.

Worth noting, though — the report flags a legitimate question about how some of these numbers are being counted. Certain national federations have broadened their definition of "registered player" to include padel and pickleball participants, which can make tennis participation look bigger than it actually is in some markets. Ball delivery data in the U.S. between 2019 and 2024 doesn't fully back up the growth numbers either.

None of that means tennis is in trouble. It isn’t. The U.S. infrastructure base is unmatched — 41.8 percent of global tennis clubs and 36.7 percent of courts are in North America. But if you’re making capital or programming decisions off headline participation numbers, it’s worth understanding what’s actually being counted.

U.S. implication: Tennis remains the foundation. The infrastructure, the membership base, and the brand awareness are unrivaled. What’s worth watching is whether the participation growth is as deep as the headline numbers suggest — or whether some of that growth is crossover players being counted in multiple sports.

PADEL

The sport is real. The U.S. is early. The global data shows what comes next.

Padel crossed the 35 million mark for active amateur players globally at the close of 2025. More than 14,000 courts were added in the 18 months leading into 2025 — a 15.2 percent annual increase. Europe hosts 61 percent of global players and 66.1 percent of courts. Spain alone has 17,300 courts. France added 1,850 in a single year.

The U.S. most recently reached 700+ courts in total, with Florida holding 41 percent of them. The report categorizes the U.S. as “initial expansion,” which is accurate, and also means the curve hasn’t started yet in most of the country.

A few data points from the report that stood out to me specifically for the U.S. context:

Globally, 67 percent of tennis followers also follow padel. In the U.S., only 16 percent of tennis players report actually playing it. That gap tells you something. The interest exists — it just hasn't had enough courts to convert into actual play yet.

The UK more than doubled its padel player base in a single year, reaching 860,000 players, with awareness hitting 57 percent of British adults. That’s what the report describes as what happens when infrastructure catches up to latent interest.

The report cites a 92 percent return rate after a first padel session. The product converts — retention isn’t the challenge. Access is.

On the business model side: Playtomic, the dominant global court booking platform, reported over €346 million transacted as of September 2025 — a 51 percent year-on-year increase. Clubs using digital tools outperform non-digital ones by 3 to 5 times in both revenue and player retention. In mature markets, open matches account for 80 to 90 percent of all bookings and have a higher average ticket value than classes or leagues. The pay-to-play, digitally-booked model is what’s working globally.

The generational picture is also worth noting. Padel sits at 30 percent popularity among Gen Z, 18 percent among Millennials, 15 percent among Gen X, and 3 percent among Boomers. It’s a young sport with a young, growing player base — and the demographic adopting it fastest is already within most tennis clubs.

One more data point that ties it together: in France and Italy, 70 percent of padel courts are built inside tennis venues. That’s the model that’s worked in the markets that are furthest along.

U.S. implication: Padel is early here — genuinely early, not just comparatively. The global data gives U.S. operators and investors a preview of what growth looks like when it arrives: who the customer is, what business model works, where the courts tend to go, and what demographic is driving adoption. That’s useful intelligence to have before the growth pressure arrives, not after.

PICKLEBALL

The U.S. story is well-known. The global story is just starting.

24.3 million active pickleball players in the U.S. in 2025, according to SFIA data cited in the report. That’s pickleball’s third consecutive year as the fastest-growing sport in America — up 171.8 percent over three years, and now edging in on tennis as the most popular racquet sport in the U.S.

The U.S. pickleball story is largely known inside the industry. What’s less discussed is the demographic picture and what it means for the long-term.

Those aged 25–34 are now the largest single segment of pickleball players in the U.S., which is a shift from the sport’s older-skewing roots. But when you look at core players (8+ sessions per year), the 65+ group is still the largest. Players over 45 make up 56.5 percent of core pickleball players. The sport is getting younger on the casual end and older on the committed end.

Across generations, the report shows pickleball at 48 percent among Gen Z, 47 percent among Millennials, 49 percent among Gen X, and 42 percent among Boomers. Notably flat across all age groups, which reflects its broad accessibility as a sport.

The global picture is where the report highlights something most U.S. operators haven’t yet focused on. The crossover between pickleball and tennis in the U.S. is significant: 39 percent of U.S. tennis players also play pickleball, and 67 percent of pickleball players also play tennis. The professional pickleball tour is 90 percent former tennis players.

Internationally, the report notes that Asia holds significant promise for pickleball’s next expansion — though the data is more uncertain than for tennis or padel, given the absence of a unified global measurement framework.

U.S. implication: Pickleball's U.S. growth is real and documented. The more interesting strategic question for operators is the demographic split — a younger player base that's showing up casually and an older core that's showing up consistently — and what that means for programming, pricing, and facility decisions. The global expansion is early and worth watching, but the U.S. market is where the decisions are being made now.

U.S. racquet dports market crossover data is worth sitting with.

The report dedicates a full section to player crossover between the three sports, and a few findings are worth highlighting for U.S. operators.

Tennis players in the U.S. are much more likely to play pickleball (39 percent) than padel (16 percent). That gap reflects access and familiarity, not preference — pickleball is everywhere, padel is still finding its footing in most U.S. markets.

The facility crossover tells a different story than the player crossover. In France and Italy, 70 percent of padel courts are inside tennis venues. In Spain — the most mature padel market in the world — only 25 percent are. As markets mature, padel finds its own standalone infrastructure. The U.S. is early enough that the tennis-venue integration model remains the most natural path in most markets.

U.S. implication: U.S. tennis players are currently crossing over to pickleball at more than double the rate they’re crossing over to padel — 39 percent versus 16 percent. Whether that gap reflects access, familiarity, or something else is hard to say at this stage. Padel in the U.S. is early. The data is directional. Things will look different as the court count grows and the numbers become more meaningful. The more useful question for operators right now is: who are you actually building for — and are you staying flexible enough to learn as the market develops?

Why I’m sharing this.

Part of my role as U.S. Development Partner for the International Padel Cluster — which I wrote about in Issue 02 — is staying connected to what’s happening in the global padel ecosystem and bringing that intelligence to U.S. operators and brands who don’t always have direct access to it. The IPC represents 130+ member companies spanning over €2 billion in global padel industry revenue — the people inside that network have already navigated what the U.S. market is just beginning to face.

And through Inside The Lines Advisory, I help racquet sports leaders make better decisions under real growth pressure — which means looking at what the data actually shows, not just what the hype says.

This report is worth your time. I’d start with the padel section and the crossover data, but the tennis numbers and the methodology note are also worth reading carefully.

Two conversations worth having.

If you’re an operator, investor, or brand trying to figure out what any of this means for your specific situation — that’s a conversation I’m happy to have. No pitch. Just a straight read on where the real pressure is and what’s worth acting on.

If you’re a U.S. company that wants a direct connection to the global padel network — the International Padel Cluster is that connection, and I’m the U.S. Development Partner. I’ll give you an honest read on whether membership makes sense for your business. If it doesn’t, I’ll tell you that too.

Either way, reach out: mike@insidethelinesadvisory.com.

Source

All data in this newsletter is drawn from: Sporting Goods Intelligence Europe, Racquet Sports: The 2026 State of Play — Tennis, Padel and Pickleball: Participation Data, Numbers and Trajectories. By Victoria Woollven and Valentina Giannella. Published April 19, 2026. SGI Europe / Sporting Goods Intelligence. Available at https://www.sgieurope.com/racquet-sports-the-2026-state-of-play/120557.article — free registration required.

Inside the Lines Advisory  •  Growth Strategy for Racquet Sports Leaders  • mike@insidethelinesadvisory.com • mikehknowles.com